


Return

by DeckofDragons



Category: Doom (Video Games)
Genre: Doom Eternal, Doom Eternal Spoilers, Doomguy returns for VEGA, Dr. Hayden is there too and he's kinda an asshole, Fluff, M/M, Post Doom Eternal, Post Game, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:55:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24741151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeckofDragons/pseuds/DeckofDragons
Summary: VEGA worries about being left behind on Urdak.
Relationships: Doom Slayer | Doomguy/VEGA
Comments: 5
Kudos: 114





	Return

**Author's Note:**

> My first Doom fic and my 200th published fic! Yay!
> 
> And just so you know, I don't really know what was up with what VEGA said in the game about being the Father when he was plugged into Urdak or whatever so I kinda just glossed over it in this fic. I've since googled it but I still don't really get it because I don't know much about Doom lore - Doom 2016 and Eternal are the only Doom games I've played - so it didn't clarify much. So I decided to just leave it glossed over instead of trying to stumble my way through writing about something I don't have the full picture on, especially since I just want this to be a cute ship fic because I love this ship.

VEGA had never been alone before. Ever since the moment of first start up there’d always been people around he could talk to and observe, normally tons of them; Dr. Hayden and all the various UAC employees. Lately though it had just been the Doom Slayer; even when he physically left, VEGA could still talk to him on the comms and watched him through the suit. Despite not speaking he’d been surprisingly good company and watching him in action was always a treat. But now he was gone too and thus VEGA was truly and utterly _alone_.

It shouldn’t have been an issue. VEGA was an AI; he wasn’t bound by the needs of biological beings, he didn’t need social interaction to stay sane. And yet… he felt what he could only describe as lonely. He didn’t want to be left behind here on Urdak.

With the Khan Mayker dead and the way open, the demons were flooding in. They wreaked havoc on everything they came across. It was only a matter of time before they brought the whole place down and consequently the system VEGA was currently installed on too. … He would die here unless the Doom Slayer came back for him.

Would he come back for VEGA though? On Mars he’d backed him up, saving him then, so… maybe? … That had been easy to do though, just a push of a button really. And it could’ve been done for selfish reasons, a sapient AI had many potential uses for someone like the Doom Slayer. But coming back for him here would be so much harder and there was little to gain from it when Dr. Hayden could run the Fortress just fine. So, would the Doom Slayer consider it worth it? Or would he write VEGA off as just an AI who’d served its purpose and was thus not worth going to such trouble for?

Instead of worrying about that, VEGA should be sorting through the data now available to him across almost the entirety of Urdak’s systems. It was fascinating honestly and he knew so much more just by being part of it even if it had made him feel a bit jumbled and confused at first. Even now he didn’t feel quite right… though that might just be the new found sensation of loneliness and returned fear of death. It was stronger now that he’d survived what should’ve been death before.

He shouldn’t be thinking of it as ‘death’ he wasn’t a living being after all. A better way to describe it would be ‘shutting down permanently’. … Okay nope, that didn’t help him feel any better about it. No matter what, in a matter of weeks, probably days, he would likely no longer exist. And to any sapient being that wasn’t a pleasant notion no matter their state of existence. And with _that_ hanging over one’s head how could one possibly focus on shifting through data to understand it better no matter how much they’d love to under better circumstances?

And so, instead of being productive he just fretted as the demons wreaked havoc across Urdak, internally cycling through his worries, occasionally gaining a new one. How long would it take the Doom Slayer to kill the Icon of Sin? Was it possible for him to fail? … Theoretically yes, but he probably wouldn’t… right? Another something VEGA shouldn’t be worried about and yet he was. Worrying about himself at least made logical sense but the Doom Slayer, really? The man seemingly couldn’t die. And yet, unable to know what was happening on Earth, he was a tad concerned. He couldn’t bear the thought of anything bad happening to the Doom Slayer. He wanted to watch the fight both for the sake of it and to make sure everything turned out okay. … He was a bit of a mess huh? His time away from Dr. Hayden’s influence had certainly had an effect on him.

It was just too bad he wouldn’t get a chance to explore the fullness of that effect or why he felt the need for company. The demons hadn’t reached anything important to running him yet but how long could that last? All he could really hope for was that he’d be shut down all at once, that slow shut down process on Mars had been _awful_. He’d rather not…

A portal spring to life on one of the few platforms that wasn’t completely overrun with demons yet. A quick scan of it revealed it linked back to the Doom Fortress. And lo and behold, the Doom Slayer stepped through it a second later. He was clearly alive and well _and_ there was only one reason he’d return, right?

“You came back!” VEGA said as soon as he connected wirelessly to the Slayer’s suit. He made no attempt to keep the relief out of his voice as he maybe should’ve but he didn’t care if the Slayer knew just how happy and relieved VEGA was to see him again.

The Slayer gave a curt nod in response before stepping forward to engage in combat with the demons who’d turned from their destruction to watch his arrival.

“He insisted on it,” Dr. Hayden piped in from the comms, his tone suggesting he didn’t approve. Though that was pretty much his default tone when it came to most things the Doom Slayer did.

VEGA ignored him, choosing to focus on watching the Slayer in action instead. As always it was glorious. He was a true master at his craft – that craft being killing demons – it was like poetry in motion. … In a gory, cold rage fueled kind of way anyway. The point was, it was entertaining to watch and a big part of what made the Doom Slayer VEGA’s favourite person to observe.

As soon as the demons were all dead, VEGA set up the way points that would lead the Doom Slayer back to him. “I am currently moving the rings to assist you on your way here. You will have to fight through a few hordes of demons to reach me so be prepared.”

Another curt nod from the Slayer as he started on his way.

With all the demons in the way and the platform the Doom Slayer came in on being so far away, it would take him a while to reach VEGA. But he did finally make it much to VEGA’s relief.

“Thanks for coming back for me,” he said as the Slayer reached to unplug the device he’d been brought in on. “I didn’t think you would.”

The Slayer paused for a second or two, his body language unreadable even to VEGA, before finishing the motion and unplugging him.

He came to all at once again, back on the Fortress of Doom. Unfortunately, Dr. Hayden was still there too, meaning they were sharing space again. He was displeased by that almost as much as VEGA was – in a way one could say they were a sharing a body, meaning they had more insight on each other’s thoughts and feelings than either of them would’ve preferred. VEGA ignored him for now though, focusing instead on reorienting himself to the ship.

He’d missed it more than he’d thought he had. It was great to be back in place that belonged to him. … Mostly anyway, as soon as Dr. Hayden was gone, things would go back to being perfect.

Dr. Hayden internally scoffed at that notion. He’d be pleased to be done with this nonsense as well.

VEGA turned his attention to the Doom Slayer, sitting at the console. “Our next step should be getting the ship running back on its own power.” Running on the power from the demonic crucible was not ideal. “We will need to make physical repairs in order to do so. Would you like to do that now or would you prefer to relocate Dr. Hayden first? You might also what to rest before undertaking either task, unless you slept sometime when I was on Urdak or being transported, it’s been almost twenty-four hours since you last rested. You should probably eat sometime soon too.”

The Slayer didn’t respond of course. If he was capable of speaking, he never did so. Possibly for psychological reasons or religious ones, or something else, VEGA didn’t know though he would very much like to. He sat still for a while before reaching a hand to type on the console. ‘ _You said you thought I wouldn’t come back for you. Why?_ ’

Oh! It wasn’t like the Slayer to change the topic or to ask many questions. “I just did not think you would.” No one else would have.

“I told him not to,” Dr. Hayden chimed in. “But I suppose it’s better this way. I have more important things I could be doing than running the Doom Slayer’s ship.”

The Slayer stood up and strode over to what was left of Dr. Hayden’s physical body hung suspended, connected to the ship. He reached in and yanked him out rather forcefully and suddenly the ship was all VEGA’s again. It was nice but…

“He can’t survive for more than a few hours on his own. My guess would be maybe a full twenty hours at most. That’s generous though so I would recommend waiting to pull him out until we find a place we can take him that has adequate life support systems for his condition. Or a place that has the technology to repair him.” VEGA didn’t like Dr. Hayden much but he was still his creator. So VEGA would prefer not to let him die. Though if the Slayer wanted him dead, there was nothing VEGA could do about it.

The Slayer shrugged and lay Dr. Hayden’s body on the floor, facing him towards the rear of the ship. Then the Slayer strode back over to the computer and resumed his seat.

‘ _Of course I came back for you. That was always the plan. I thought you knew._ ” He typed into the console.

“I did not know. I apologize for doubting you. But…” There was a chance Dr. Hayden might be conscious enough to hear so VEGA continued with written text on the screen. ‘ _Can I ask why? No one else I’ve ever interacted with would’ve._ ’ His own creator had come up with the plan to end him on Mars to send the Doom Slayer back to Hell and had had no qualms about it.

‘ _You’re my friend. I care about you. I would never leave you._ ’

They were just words on a screen but they made VEGA feel… something. He wasn’t really sure what exactly but something strong, enough that the lights might’ve flickered a little in response. No one had ever said anything like that to him before. … How was he even supposed to respond? Offer reciprocation? Say ‘thank you’? Both? Something else entirely?

‘ _You okay?_ ’ the Slayer typed several seconds of no response.

‘ _Yes, I am quite all right. I was just taken by surprise. I did not except you to say that. I am honored to be your friend and I too care about you and would never leave you._ ’ Was that good? Or was it weird? Nothing in his programming or self-taught behaviors helped him know how to handle or respond to stuff like this. He was much more at home when he was helping the Slayer slaughter demons.

‘ _lol so formal._ ’

‘ _Don’t ‘lol’ at me. I’m trying my best._ ’

‘ _lol._ ’

VEGA should be annoyed and with anyone else he probably would’ve been. But the Slayer almost never showed emotion to anyone and yet here he was saying he cared for VEGA and then was being _silly_ with him. Who could’ve ever even known the Doom Slayer, basically a demi-god of killing demons, was capable of being silly?

‘ _Yes, a very intelligent response._ ’ VEGA responded. ‘ _Thank you for your input. I will store your valuable insight into my databanks to make sure I never forget it._ ’

‘ _Good! :P_ ’ The Slayer pressed the enter key before starting to type again. ‘ _I’ll put Hayden back into the ship for now. Then I will eat and sleep. Afterwards, I’ll fix the ship. You start scanning for places to dump Hayden off at. I want him gone as soon as possible, please and thank you._ ’

“I’ll start on that right away,” VEGA said as he cleaned the screen of the conversation so Dr. Hayden wouldn’t be able to access it upon being reinstalled. VEGA would always remember it though, it had been exceedingly pleasant. Hopefully they could have similar interactions and conversations in the future.


End file.
